Britain’s Conservative Party suspended one of its lawmakers, Lee Anderson, on Saturday after he said the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was under the control of Islamists.
My second thought was to wonder why conservatives in the UK don’t. Is it because they have more integrity? Based on what I’ve heard, no, they don’t.
I suspect that they’re just a bit more cowardly. I think Trump revealed what was always the case but previously unknown: the actual voters and donors you rely on will never punish you for offending people who aren’t them. I think the lesson hasn’t quite set in, possibly because Boris Johnson fucked up just hard enough to actually piss off his real base of support, and that has made more of the UK conservatives fearful of consequences in a way that US conservatives feel wholly liberated from.
I think its because as much as the US has tried to export its special brand of extremeism the majority of the British public have a tendency to turn around and say “OI piss off mate”
I think it’s because people are less polarised than in the US (despite the media’s best efforts). Most people fall somewhere near the centre and so the conservative leadership is somewhat scared of its MPs dragging it further to the right.
I will add that the Tories are in a bit of a shambles at the minute and so they will swing randomly between centre-right and right-wing due to inept leaders
I think because if you’re “left” in the US you’re more “less right of center” and the right are ultra right.
I can’t imagine any other first would nation where this wouldn’t be the outcome. But in the US I can imagine it and imagine normal people buying into it if media or a figurehead spun it enough.
That was exactly my thought.
My second thought was to wonder why conservatives in the UK don’t. Is it because they have more integrity? Based on what I’ve heard, no, they don’t.
I suspect that they’re just a bit more cowardly. I think Trump revealed what was always the case but previously unknown: the actual voters and donors you rely on will never punish you for offending people who aren’t them. I think the lesson hasn’t quite set in, possibly because Boris Johnson fucked up just hard enough to actually piss off his real base of support, and that has made more of the UK conservatives fearful of consequences in a way that US conservatives feel wholly liberated from.
That’s my take.
I think its because as much as the US has tried to export its special brand of extremeism the majority of the British public have a tendency to turn around and say “OI piss off mate”
Shouldn’tve pinched me colonies, simple as
I think it’s because people are less polarised than in the US (despite the media’s best efforts). Most people fall somewhere near the centre and so the conservative leadership is somewhat scared of its MPs dragging it further to the right.
I will add that the Tories are in a bit of a shambles at the minute and so they will swing randomly between centre-right and right-wing due to inept leaders
I think because if you’re “left” in the US you’re more “less right of center” and the right are ultra right.
I can’t imagine any other first would nation where this wouldn’t be the outcome. But in the US I can imagine it and imagine normal people buying into it if media or a figurehead spun it enough.